Somali U-17 Goalkeeper Slain in Mogadishu

Somali National U-17 football squad 1st goalkeeper Abdulkader Dheere Hussein has been killed in Mogadishu by unidentified assailants, the Somali Football Federation (SFF) announced on Thursday.

The SFF said in a press statement that the young footballer was killed in the Waberi district of Mogadishu after a training session.

“Still we don’t know who was behind the brutal killing, but the Somali Football Federation is investigating the matter to find out who was exactly behind the killing,” the Somali Football federation secretary General Abdi Qani Said Arab said in his statement Thursday.

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It was on April 4 this year when a female suicide bomber killed the presidents of Somali Football Federation Said Mahmoud Nur and national Olympic committee Aden Hajji Yeberow. The Al-Qaeda-linked Somali Terrorists of Al-shabaab claimed the responsibility of the killing.

For the past twenty years of lack of a functioning central government in Somalia, many sporting volunteers including high profile dignitaries, referees, players, coaches and fans have been either killed or arrested for their involvement in sports particularly in football.

Writing stories about football or other sport is also seen a ‘crime’ by the militants in Somalia who target the high profile journalists for publishing what the extremists describe as ‘satanic’ football stories.

Shafi’i Mohyaddin Abokar is the NewsBlaze Somalia reporter. Shafi’i has extensive experience in journalism, international relations, and football management. He is the founder of Somali Sports Press Association, a long-time sports journalist and a member of the International Sports Press Association.

Shafi’i has a Master’s Degree in international Relations obtained at De Montfort University in Leicester and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Multimedia journalism from the University of Northampton. The photo shows Shafi’i in action while at CAF Centre of Excellence in Cameroon.